Coyote vs. Acme

*Coyote vs. Acme* finally got released after Warner Bros. tried to shelve the project for a $30 million tax write-off. It is exactly as I expected it to be: Funny, action-packed, emotional, and self-aware. The blend of live-action and animation is really cool because the real humans use animated props in the same vein as *Who Framed Roger Rabbit*, but the reason it feels more believable here is because instead of puppeteering the animated props, the human actors hold stand-ins that get replaced in post-production before release. Yes, I honestly believe actors holding real props and then replacing them in the editing is more believable than puppeteering because how do you puppet an animated prop? Anywho, the characters' roles in the movie, specifically the *Looney Tunes* characters, felt like an homage to classic crime films, like how Bugs Bunny's role as a whistle blower is similar to Deep Throat from *All the President's Men* (1976). Will Forte and John Cena's live-action acting was also great, delivering some funny moments together, while Forte also provides some emotional scenes between him and Wile E. Coyote. My only issue is that Wile E. Coyote still doesn't talk. This might come as a shocker, but I'm actually getting sick of these types of movies not letting the silent character talk. While Wile E. Coyote's signs and mute expressions works for a 22-minute cartoon, for a 90-minute movie, dialogue is necessary to ensure proper character interactions. Even in *WALL-E*, the title character doesn't entirely not talk. He just talks LESS. *Coyote vs. Acme* is still a pure delight despite this, and I really wished Warner Bros. decided to release this any sooner.

Coyote vs. Acme is a genuinely fun surprise. The gimmick — Wile E. Coyote suing Acme Corp for decades of faulty products, staged as a courtroom dramedy — could've been a one-joke premise, but it earns its laughs by taking the legal-thriller framing semi-seriously. John Cena is a good sport as the smarmy corporate lawyer, and the blend of live action with classic Looney Tunes-style animation is charming without leaning too hard on nostalgia. It sags a bit in the middle once the courtroom stuff settles into formula, and some jokes land softer the second time around. Still, there's real heart here, and knowing the studio nearly buried this thing for a tax write-off makes rooting for it even easier. Solid family entertainment — not essential, but worth the watch.

The Acme Corporation has finally met an adversary it can’t flatten with an anvil: a courtroom, and the result is an unexpectedly charming Looney Tunes comedy in *Coyote vs. Acme*. The premise is inspired: after yet another Acme product goes spectacularly wrong, Wile E. Coyote takes the company to court with the help of a down-on-his-luck lawyer. It is exactly the kind of ridiculous escalation that feels appropriate for a character who has spent decades ordering increasingly elaborate devices to catch one very fast bird. Better yet, the film actually makes something of the idea, turning Acme’s absurd catalog into the basis for a surprisingly effective corporate satire. Most importantly, the movie feels like Looney Tunes. The slapstick is broad, the visual gags come fast, and the dialogue occasionally has the same mischievous snap as the cartoons. Not every joke hits its target, but there are enough genuine laughs to keep the comedy firing. The satire is similarly effective, poking fun at corporate indifference and legal maneuvering without becoming so self-important that it forgets this is, fundamentally, a movie about a coyote suing a cartoon company. The live-action and animation are also blended impressively well. There are a handful of moments where the seams show, but for the most part the cartoon characters inhabit the live-action world naturally. It helps that the film doesn’t treat the Looney Tunes characters as museum pieces. They are allowed to be funny, chaotic and occasionally ridiculous in precisely the way they should be. John Cena is another highlight. As the smug corporate attorney, he plays the increasingly absurd circumstances with such complete seriousness that it becomes a joke in itself. Additionally, there is also more heart in the film than one might expect, giving the story some emotional weight beneath all the courtroom theatrics and exploding Acme merchandise. Unfortunately, the film’s biggest strength is also its biggest weakness. The premise is so clever that it creates expectations the movie doesn’t entirely satisfy. What could have been a wonderfully strange, unpredictable collision of courtroom comedy and Looney Tunes madness often settles into a fairly conventional underdog legal story. The subplot involving Acme selling its products specifically to cartoon characters feels particularly unnecessary, adding complication without much payoff. The pacing is another problem. *Coyote vs. Acme* isn’t exactly slow, but it is uneven. The first half has a lively rhythm and plenty of personality; somewhere around the midpoint, however, the story may start to feel like a bit of a slog. Some of the acting doesn’t help either, particularly with Lana Condor as Paige Avery, proving less convincing than the stronger performances around her. The legalese may also make the movie somewhat harder for younger viewers to follow than its Looney Tunes packaging suggests. While *Coyote vs. Acme* is quite entertaining, it feels like it doesn’t realize its full potential. The premise promises something wonderfully creative, and the film delivers just enough of that promise to make the missed opportunities frustrating. There is a genuinely funny, affectionate Looney Tunes movie in here, along with a terrific central idea and a welcome amount of heart. It just needed to be a little bolder and more consistent.

You won’t often see me review animated films. That’s because I remember what cartoons were like when I was growing up as a Baby Boomer, and I loved them (especially Looney Tunes). In fact, in my view, most of today’s headache-inducing animation is overly manic and overly silly, releases that pale in comparison to those classic old school offerings. For those who agree with me, however, there’s a new release out there that serves as a fitting homage to those works of days gone by that pays a fitting tribute to them while simultaneously incorporating fresh, contemporary material that does justice to its source material, “Coyote vs. Acme.” Based on the long-running comical desert conflict between the Road Runner and the bird’s perpetually unsuccessful nemesis, Wile E. Coyote, this feature-length tale brilliantly fuses animation and live action (in the same vein as “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” (1988)) in an inventive new story. When the Coyote realizes that all of his efforts to entrap his target using an assortment of inherently faulty products from the infamous Acme Corp., he decides to try a new tactic to fulfill his goal: sue Acme in court, with the Road Runner serving as a firsthand witness to all of the product failures, thereby granting him ready access to the bird – and putting him one step closer to realizing his long-hoped-for dinner. He gets the idea after seeing a television commercial for shady Albuquerque accident attorney Kevin Avery (Will Forte), a lawyer known for bringing (and settling) many cartoon product injury cases against Acme and its chief legal counsel (and boastful law school rival), Buddy Crane (John Cena). But can Avery at last best his old foe through this lawsuit? What ensues is a smart, insightful corporate satire and lawyer parody in which the two attorneys battle one another surrounded by a host of beloved Warner Bros. cartoon characters presented in ways viewers have never seen them before, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Tweety, Granny, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn and the Tasmanian Devil., among others. The result is a delightfully humorous tale strategically peppered with memorable “Easter Eggs” from the franchise source material in a present-day narrative that’s unquestionably unusual but that never feels forced or implausible (comparatively speaking, that is). Admittedly, the picture isn’t rip-roaringly funny, but it’s definitely modestly amusing and successfully avoids the aforementioned pitfalls that weigh down most contemporary animated features. Director Dave Green’s third big screen effort will nostalgically warm the hearts of audiences who grew up with these flawed but familiar characters, evoking moderate chuckles as they’re showcased in a largely new light, quite a nifty trick to pull off as successfully as the filmmaker has done here. Yet, if nothing further comes out of this release (though, given its box office success, I doubt that will happen), one likely won’t be sorry when it ends, having deservedly earned the celebrated “That’s all, folks” sign-off that viewers have come to associate with this cherished body of work.